Setting off alone? To South America? Are you crazy? Those are the questions I have been asked over and over from many different people (my mom, most of all!)

I got the travel bug a bit late (29) but have been seriously afflicted ever since. Since my first trip out of the United States in 1994, I have continued to explore and experience every new opportunity that the world has to offer. My job (teaching) has enabled me to travel every summer for the past six years. Two months vacation is something every person should have to keep their optimism and energy. I take full advantage of this time off and have travelled all over the world with friends and alone. But, I kept meeting people who were travelling for six months, one year, two years, six years!!

That has been my goal -- to travel for an extended period of time. After my recent trip to Zimbabwe for 7 weeks, I decided that the time was right to take a year off and travel. I applied for an unpaid leave of absence and, luckily, found someone to sublet my apartment. I will sell my car and head off to South America on August 5.

I created this web page (and it was time-consuming!) to keep in touch with my school, my family and my friends. As I sit in New York on my own computer, I wonder if it will be possible to update my web page as planned... Probably not... But sometimes while traveling, the most difficult tasks prove to be the most rewarding.

Without sounding too much like a personal ad:

Age: 35

"If you didn't know how old you were, how old would you be?" Satchel Paige

Job: Teacher at Valley Stream South Junior- Senior High School for 8 years

Living: Resided in beautiful Flushing, NY in a four bedroom apartment with various friends

Family: I have an extremely supportive family who understand my need to leave home for extended periods of time and never tire of listening to my travel stories!

Friends: See above!

About Backpacking and Independent Travel

There is a whole sub-culture of people who are travelling the world on a low-budget with all their possessions in a backpack. Travel light. Travel as cheaply as possible. Make many international friends along the way. This is backpacking. It does not mean camping; although many backpackers do camp. This seems to be a common misconception people have when I tell them I am backpacking through South America for a year. Most people cannot fathom travelling for an extended period of time, especially Americans. Australians, English, and New Zealanders are frequent friends made on the backpacking circuit worldwide. Their countries seem to value world travel as a learning experience, which it is!

Backpackers usually share one common thread: the love of independent travel, to be a traveller immersed in a culture, not a tourist watching from the outside. Another component of backpacking is not having any set itinerary. I usually book my first night, and then wing it from there. The Lonely Planet (www.lonelyplanet.com) has the most informative guide books and I wouldn't travel without one. However, the best information usually comes from fellow travellers that I meet on the road: where to stay, what to avoid, how to get somewhere, what is a must-see! Another integral part of backpacking is taking local transportion - never luxurious, sometimes uncomfortable, always inexpensive. This enables me to meet locals and understand how they travel. In Zimbabwe it meant being crammed onto a mini-van with twenty-five people which would seat ten comfortably. However, conversations that ensue with fellow passengers would never happen while on a tour bus.

Occasionally when I am in my $8 dollar a night 'hotel' I will pass or gaze out onto a Sheridan or Four Seasons. You get service with a smile, but do you really understand the country? I think if I had tons of money, I would still backpack, but maybe splurge for the Four Seasons once in a while!! Even though I am going alone, I know that I will meet loads of fellow travellers to share the amazing experiences that I will encounter and make invaluable friendships along the way. It can be lonely and scary at times, but it is also liberating and enlightening. Having only a few possessions eliminates the material world and puts life, and what you need to enjoy life, into perspective.

I cannot imagine travelling any other way, even if I had the money.

"...travel does change you. We know that instinctively; it is for that, I think, that we leave our homes and go looking for the rest of the world. Not just to see it and know it, but to be changed by it."

Anne Rivers Siddons